Cal State Long Beach student's painful lesson on carrying ID

Liz Ramos began selling identification tags this winter, about a year after she was hit by a car and left an unidentified victim. She sells these tags for $2 each and plans to give the proceeds to Long Beach Memorial's MemorialCare Rehabilitation Institute.LIZ RAMOS

BY THE NUMBERS

The number of vehicle-versus-pedestrian collisions reported at 2 p.m. in 2013

1

The number of such collisions reported at 2 p.m. so far this year

Source: Long Beach Police Department

Everything stopped for Liz Ramos when she stepped off the curb during her afternoon jog last year.

The six-week span between that moment and when she woke up from a coma was filled with transfers to area hospitals and a frantic search for where, and who, she might be. The first 24 hours she remained a “Jane Doe,” an unidentified victim.

A year later, Ramos continues to recover from that February crash and the several operations that followed, but perhaps the most significant change for Ramos is that never again will she go unidentified. What started as an effort by her friends to offset her medical bills became a project for Ramos to buy new equipment for the physical therapy department at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, where she learned how to walk up steps again and use the shower.

Ramos recently began selling identification tags for runners emblazoned with Long Beach State's signature logo. So far, she has raised $900 and hopes to sell more. Others have joined in championing the cause to get runners IDs.

SCENE ‘SO SURREAL'

About 2 p.m. on Feb. 4, 2013, a silver sedan driven by a man in his late 70s struck Ramos while traveling upward of 45 mph along Bellflower Boulevard. Eyewitness Jeff Grogan said it didn't appear the driver hit the brakes before sending Ramos 40 feet into the air.

Grogan was an EMT at the time and was sitting at the red light at the intersection of Beach Drive and Bellflower Boulevard after dropping his girlfriend off at the campus.

A runner himself, Grogan noticed as Ramos, who was then on the track and field team, crossed the street. Then there was a loud bang. The next time he saw her, she was cartwheeling through the air.

“Things just start falling, her iPod, her shoe fell near my truck and everybody at the intersection – it felt like we all just paused for five seconds. We all just kind of looked at each other,” he said.

As an EMT, Grogan found the experience was different from what he normally experienced. “It was kind of weird because usually when we get called to something we don't see it happen,” he said. “We don't have much of a connection to it, whereas I saw it from start to finish.”

He and other bystanders pulled over. One dialed 911 and reported that Ramos died in the accident. Grogan kept the blood away from Ramos' mouth so she wouldn't inhale it and stopped others from moving her until paramedics arrived lest she suffer a spinal injury.

“It looked like something out of a movie,” Grogan said. “That's the only way to describe it. It was just so surreal.”

The crash was one of 320 vehicle-versus-pedestrian collisions reported in the city in 2013, and it happened at one of the most common times for such crashes, according to data from the Long Beach Police Department. Twenty-five such crashes were reported at 2 p.m. last year.

This year, there have been 32 crashes involving pedestrians and vehicles at any time during the day as of March 6, according to police.

Even after paramedics whisked Ramos to St. Mary Medical Center, Grogan would ask after Ramos.

“Any of us could be in that situation, and I really wanted to see how she was going to follow up and recover from it,” Grogan said. “She appeared to be my age. She was running. I like to run. There was just a bit of a personal connection.”

Liz Ramos began selling identification tags this winter, about a year after she was hit by a car and left an unidentified victim. She sells these tags for $2 each and plans to give the proceeds to Long Beach Memorial's MemorialCare Rehabilitation Institute. LIZ RAMOS
Cal State Long Beach student Liz Ramos reunites with Jeffrey Grogan, the emergency medical technician who helped her after she was struck by a car traveling 45-50 mph last year in Long Beach. DREW A. KELLEY, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Cal State Long Beach student Liz Ramos was struck by a car traveling 45-50 mph while jogging last year in Long Beach. DREW A. KELLEY, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Vincent, Lydia and Liz Ramos, from left, pose for a photograph with Jeffrey Grogan Saturday in Long Beach. Grogan is the emergency medical technician who treated Liz after she was struck by a car last year in Long Beach. They were meeting for the first time since that day. DREW A. KELLEY, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

1 of

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.